Lehigh University
Delaware
Mountain Hawks split doubleheader with Delaware
4/21/2010 7:15:00 PM | Softball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Carly Potock went 2-for-3 with her second home run of the season and classmate Bri Gaumer threw seven innings of one-run ball as Lehigh edged Delaware 2-1 in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks had to settle for a split as they opened their final home stand of the season with a 9-7 loss to the Fightin’ Blue Hens. With the split Lehigh is now 25-15 overall, while Delaware now stands at 17-23-1.
“It was an unusual start to the first game with the rain and our inability to throw strikes,” said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. “After the first few innings we settled down and played pretty well and we got some timely hits in the second game.”
After winning the opener, Delaware took a 1-0 lead in game two on a Michelle Grap solo home run to left center off Gaumer in the top of the third.
Lehigh answered in the bottom of the third with two runs to take the lead for good. Potock led off with a home run to left center, her second of the season, to tie the game at one. Two batters later, freshman Rosie Roessel tripled to left field, and then scored the go ahead run when sophomore Audra Wood grounded out to second.
“Carly had a really nice game with a home run for us,” said Troyan. “I thought Rosie Roessel’s triple was huge for us and she was able to score on Audra’s ground ball. Our little guys did a great job of manufacturing a run.”
The Blue Hens threatened in the fifth with runners on second and third with one out but Gaumer worked out of a jam with back-to-back ground outs.
In the seventh, Delaware put the tying and go ahead runs on base with one out, but Gaumer struck out Grap swinging and then got Stacevicz to fly out to Wood in center to end the game.
Gaumer allowed just the one run on seven hits while walking two and striking out six as she improved to 4-2 on the season.
“Bri did a great job and I’m happy for her,” Troyan noted. “There’s a good chance we’re going to need her for significant innings this weekend against Bucknell.”
Lehigh managed just three hits with Potock adding a fifth-inning double to go with her home run.
Game one began under heavy rains with both teams capitalizing from the struggles of the starting pitchers.
Delaware raced to a 7-0 lead after a half-inning of play with three hits off senior Tiffany Curtis plus four walks, three wild pitches and a costly error by sophomore Jen Colquhoun.
In the bottom of the first the Mountain Hawks loaded the bases with one out and Lehigh plated its first run when freshman Liz Lucas drew a walk to score junior Alex Cueva. Potock then singled up the middle to score sophomore Julie Fernandez and then senior Lauren Eichblatt hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Colquhoun to make it 7-3 after one inning.
Colquhoun atoned for her error in the bottom of the second when she laced a two-out two-run double into the left centerfield gap to bring Lehigh within two at 7-5.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens tacked on two runs in the fifth to lead 9-5 but the Mountain Hawks nearly mustered a big rally in the bottom of the sixth. Lehigh loaded the bases with nobody out, but pinch-hitter Jacqi Kennelly line drive to first base was caught by Shanette White, who stepped on first to complete the double play.
Cueva kept the rally going with a ground rule double to left that scored two runs to pull Lehigh back within two, but Colquhoun lined out hard to second base to end the inning.
Lehigh got the tying run to the plate in the seventh on a Lucas leadoff single, but after a Potock strikeout, Eichblatt grounded into a double play to end the game.
Curtis dropped to 14-7 allowing nine runs on nine hits in seven innings of work. Because of the first-inning error, just three of the nine runs were earned. Curtis also walked five and struck out three.
Anne Marie Pagano earned the win for Delaware allowing two runs on five hits in five innings of relief. Grap went 3-for-4 at the plate for Delaware, while Cueva and Eichblatt each recorded two hits for Lehigh in game one, as the Mountain Hawks out-hit the Blue Hens 10-9.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when they host Bucknell in a key four-game Patriot League series. Lehigh and Bucknell will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday with Saturday’s twinbill set for a 1 p.m. start. All four games in the series will be broadcast on Lehighsports.com.
Lehigh - Delaware Post-Game Extra
